To Forever Walk in Moonlight

[Elam Vos]

[member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] [member="Ginnie Ordo"] [member="Gray Raxis"] [member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Briika Tor"] [member="Preliat Mantis"] [member="Muad Dib"]

D'ral was there, standing just outside. His brown, eyes looked down at his feet while the world seemed to spin around him like a cyclone. His hands clenched into fist as he stood seething to himself in silence. His father had joined his aunt had given her his loyalty and love. What did he get for his love, for his protection of that woman? Death. It wasn't his war. It was a war for those who wanted power. His buir didn't care about power, he didn't care about a broken rock. He wanted a safe family, and he had made them a home far from the world he knew would only attact violence.

"He should be here." D'ral said to no one as he waited for his father to be heaped onto a fire to be burned, "He should have told them to fight there own damn war."

D'ral kicked a rock and walked out toward the fields. They may as well burn those too. Those fields, the animals, even the stones of this place were as much his father as anything. Hours, days, week, months, years worth of blood and sweat had built these lands from nothing, now, it would be useless. Someone had to carry on. Someone had to to what was right. Ordo, didn't need a Mand'alor, and niether did D'ral Ar'klim. He had lands, and he had a ship. He had his buir'ika, and he had siblings. Why should he care about Death Watch versus Monroe's mandos? He decided he didn't.

 

[Ginnie Dib]

Finally outside the room Rianna and Ginnie prepared Jasper's body, Ginnie walked among the folk who gathered. She put her hand on her fellow pyromantic [member="Muad Dib"]'s shoulder, "Thank you for coming, Muad. It's good to see you made it."

At a glance, Ginnie saw [member="Mia Monroe"] walking into her father's wheat fields.





Monroe.





Candles behind Ginnie flickered on fire, the ambient torches expanding as Ginnie stared at the back of Monroe. The gaul. The absolute gaul of the woman to show her face. There was nothing Ginnie Ordo wanted more than to take her lightsaber to Monroe's neck, and rid the universe of the scourge who destroyed Manda'yaim. How the woman could continue to breathe under the pressure of guilt told Ginnie enough about how far gone Monroe was, and how badly she needed to die.





[member="Preliat Mantis"] killed a man in battle. A good man, the best father and friend one could have. Yet, Jasper Ordo died fighting in what looked like honourable combat.





Mia Monroe was not nearly as honourable or as righteous, and she did not belong anywhere near Rianna, D'Ral or the others. The baby hanging off her... how long before he fell to the horror in his mother's soul? The baby... the poor infant. If she could, Ginnie would take Galeth from Mia's arms and save the poor thing from the tragedy ahead. Ordos had a history of adopting lost causes and turning them into valiant souls.





'Are you here to finish us all off? One nuke wasn't enough, you have to ruin this sacred event with your personal kark? If you don't have the decency to die for your crimes, at least leave the grieving be. Do the only good thing you have left. Give us the baby to care for, submit yourself to justice. Get. Out.'





Aunt Mia had crafted Ginnie's first hearing aides. She's been this strong feminine influence helping Jasper Ordo gain the trust of the orphan he'd adopted. The fact Mia could build, make useful electronics and also used the Force gave young Ginnie hope. She could grow up to be just like her hero, Mia.





Even a deaf girl like Ginnie could one day become Mand'alor. Now all Ginnie wanted was the grave she'd dug for her hero filled to the brim.

 

[Mia Monroe]

Her words were like hot blades, driving into Mia's mind and carving out her heart. She lifted her gaze to see her silhouetted by the flames that burned bright with her anger.

Ginnie...

What words could she give her? What could she possibly say to take the pain away? A girl grown, a girl who had once looked at her with admiration in her eyes now only graced her with the fury and hatred she deserved. How could she explain to her that what she had done, had been done because of the insanity that carrying Velok's memories had brought upon her? She wanted to move, to get up but her legs wouldn't respond.

I can't. Not yet. Not until Death Watch is defeated. I'll give my life to protect you all from that, because I could not protect you from my own insanity. He understood that, and he knew that I would pay for my crimes one way or the other.

She looked down at Galeth. Her last good thing....

Take him. I'll stay out of your way. But I will watch the flames carry my brother to manda.

[member="Ginnie Ordo"]

 

[Ashin]

A silhouette appeared: a tall woman, robed, masked with a frowning face, hovering maybe a foot above the ground. It ignored the others present.

<<You played the hand you were dealt,>> it murmured in Ancient Sith. <<You didn't deserve this. When you drift through the wheel, I'll find you a better existence. Maybe you'll be a hound's smile or a knot in an old tree. I think you'd like that.>>

The outline faded away.

 

[Muad Dib]

He looked at little Ginnie, all grown into a strong woman. While his journey into the other realm had frozen him from aging, Ginnie was a reminder that time continued. Time always continued. A life begun travels it's path through the galaxy until inevitable it ends. Like Ordo. He felt the hand on his shoulder drift as the young firestarter moved to a figure in the fields.

Curiosity and an old feeling of protectiveness spurred him to follow as Ginnie approached the form of Mia Monroe. Hooking his thumbs into his belt he watched and listened. While he managed to not be on Manda'yaim during the catalyst, he had seen the destruction first hand, had helped bury the fallen, had assisted in the rebuilding. The horrors he had seen just from the aftermath were enough to give a sane man nightmares.

Maybe it was good he wasn't completely sane.

Seeing the small child in Mia's arms he shook his head. Such innocence and helplessness. Born into a world where many sought his death, a price to be paid for the mother's crimes. He had seen it with his own eyes. But while the mother may deserve the hell that would come to her sooner or later, the child was free of the sins of the parents and deserved a chance to live. And the child was born to be mando'ad.

Reaching out slowly he placed his hand upon Ginnie's shoulder, mirroring her own actions earlier.

"This is a day of rememberance. A day to celebrate the life of Ordo and to remember what and who he was. I didn't know the man, but I know his aliit. And the man he was, is reflected and lives within those he touched. War is for another day, today we remember."

His head was turned to Ginnie as he spoke, but the glowing blue eyes never left Mia or the child as it was offered.

"The child is a vod. You have me any way you need."

His eyes turned to the innocent babe with the grey eyes. His offer of assistance for the child seemed out of character to even him, yet since becoming Mandalorian he had changed. The child wasn't disposable leverage. He was an innocent that should be protected and cherished. Stepping back he watched the two. It wasn't his place to act one way or another. All he wished to do was be here for the family he had grown to know over the years.

[member="Mia Monroe"] [member="Ginnie Ordo"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

Preliat Mantis was a hunter. When he wanted to, he was a quiet, deft man. He rarely needed to be quiet, but it was his sudden appearance beside Mia Monroe. She was distracted, and his inability for his thoughts and emotions to be read- thus he was able to sneak up on the liberator.

He was unarmed, and his hands drifted over the wheat. His face was scarred. The nerve damage from the fight was still fresh. A few hours after the funeral, he'd undergo extensive surgery to save what was left of the nerves in his face, and the ability to retain muscle movement due to the hit from Jasper.

Preliat looked out to the golden fields. It was silent for a moment, just him, the liberator, and the truth. Facts didn't necessarily denote the truth, it was the finality of the event that determined the truth. Preliat did not look at her as he spoke.

"When I was a child, I looked to the stars, with hope. With a great expectations of the future. As a man, I looked to it as an escape, a betterment of my situation."

His hands cupped a grain, examining it. Healthy. Full of life. A dichotomy to the reality of the farm.

"I have been through many wars, Mia. I am so very tired of it all. I grow weary of it. I have bled, I have lost, and I have suffered for the Mandalorians. And to what end, I ask myself."

He drifted into the field, and turned to face her. Mahogany eyes faced her. Softened. Sad. Full of sorrow. Full of regret, of guilt.

"You have caused much more suffering than you can think of. Whatever guilt is on your shoulders now- whatever thoughts you have racing through your mind, will amount to nothing when this is over. When you look upon your fractured people, look upon your burned world with nothing but corpses surrounding your throne..."

He turned his head to the setting sun.

"I wonder if you will still think you made the Mando'ade strong. If you will ever make our people whole again."

His thoughts turned to the past. Of the battles he fought. Of the wars he waged. Alongside her. Alongside Jasper. His hand fell to his side, and an immeasurable sadness fell over the area. One did not need the force to feel it- though Mia could feel it on him now. It came off him in waves. Such was the curse he laid for himself- being a wound that he was.

"When this war ends. When whatever happens to Ra- you...when it ends, finally. I will never answer another call of Manda'yaim. For all I have done for the Mandalorians- for all that I have given.. this world has only taken from me. From my daughter, from my brother, from my wife." He half-turned his head towards her.

"See to it that Jasper receives a proper pyre."

Preliat began to drift into the golden fields, until he was swallowed by the horizon. He let the words hang in the air- and did not bother to stick around to hear a rebuttal. He wanted her to hear them and ponder them, nothing more-

nothing less.

[member="Mia Monroe"] l [member="Ginnie Ordo"] l [member="Muad Dib"] l @Other funeral folks

 

[Ginnie Dib]

Somehow the hand on her shoulder brought a comforting boldness Ginnie hadn't previously experienced. She could give [member="Muad Dib"] barely a smile, nothing but the beskar in her spine. It would have to be enough.

'I wish you'd paid for your crimes before my father wound up dead. The man who killed Buir... he lost his wife and their son... who would have been the same age as Galeth... I knew them. I helped rescue Aditya and Yasha from the Netherworld, reuniting them with her Riduur after 6 years of hell. I helped build his goram leg... both of us have guilt to live down, Ba'vodu. I can atone and honour Buir's wishes by giving Galeth the love of the aliit. He will have a long life and glorious adventures, Ba'vodu Mia. He will know of his mother, who made a scared little girl hear for the first time. The woman who taught an adopted daughter how to stand as tall as those born with grace.' Ginnie walked toward [member="Mia Monroe"] with a bravery many would call lunatic, until she stood before Mand'alor the Liberator. Mia looked as wanton for her own liberation as Ginnie was for her father's breath, a reaching and shattering woman clutching the bundle on her chest.





Salvation would not come for Mia through Galeth. Salvation would come to none of them after what Mia had done. The only salvation left for Monroe was the flames which Ginnie hoped would consume her body next.





'There would be no Death Watch without the nuclear desolation. End this war quickly, Aunt. So those of us left can make bricks of the ashes. As for me, I will continue my Buir's work in his Forge. I will continue his love of orphans.'





Anger and fear had been the hallmarks of Clan Verd. When [member="Ordo"] adopted her, he made a promise to cure the anger and the fear from his Gin'ika. Now as she watched Mia crumble, Ginnie's tears washed down her face. She held out her hands for the infant, ready to spirit and save him from his mother's fate. The child would be hunted for his entire life, unless Clan Ordo could keep him safe. Galeth making his first life day would be a miracle, if not for his mother's sacrifice.





"Galeth will be protected and loved, Mia. No harm will come to him with us. It is best for the boy... he has the best of you within him, and that will be extolled. Validated and honoured. Ash'amur pirusti (Die well), or never return. I will remember your name in my daily prayers, and you will be eternal. Stay for Buir... Maud is right. Today is for remembering."


[member="Preliat Mantis"] walked up and Ginnie was faced with her father's killer. Her face flushed as the pangs of anger and agony filtered through his prosthetic leg. Ginnie thought of reaching for her lightsaber, of taking revenge on the two people who stole her father from her... but that would make three.

She looked to Maud Dib, to Mia and Preliat, and the girl whose childish fears attempted alchemy to save her father, reached instead for the innocent child. If allowed, she would cradle Galeth to his chest, hold on to the future's one hope. Preliat disappeared, much the spectre, less the man.

"Your son... Preliat, you didn't mention your son. Aditya saw us a week or so before... before th... I'm sorry you didn't get to hold him." Yet, the man was gone.

 

[Rianna Organa]

Rianna could hear and feel every emotion around her. The sadness of everyone mingled and mixed with her own. Ginnie was making her stand speaking her truth for all to hear and some that didn't These were words that needed to be said to clear the air needed to be said so that Ginnie could move forward.

Yes Mia was at fault in many ways for why Jasper laid quietly why they would never hear his voice and why his spirit had gone to the land of shadow. Jasper had made a choice to continue to protect his family and Mia was family. His desire to protect them all had been the key to the Dark Lord of the Sith possessing his mind and using his body to reek havoc and chaos upon the Mando'ade. That he had once again made that choice to take the difficult path to protect Mia Rianna couldn't say she was surprised. She however did not like the result.

She looked down and away her own mind bathed in her own grief made it hard to tell Ginnie to stop. She couldn't. She wouldn't. Not when she said the very things Rianna was thinking. But Rianna rarely lost control of her emotions around others. She knew she had to be strong for her family that she needed to provide the haven where they could come and be themselves.

This house, this was their haven.

She thought about the baby Galeth a small sweet face who knew nothing of the world yet except when he was hungry, wet or in need of a hug. How many of these sweet little faces had the bomb that Mia set off had been killed. Rianna clenched her teeth.

"Gin'ika" Rianna whispered hoping her words carried to the fields. She could see from where she stood that Preliat Mantis was walking through the fields that Ordo had worked so hard to plant. A sea of gold the wavered under the gentle breezes.

She stepped through the doorway to stand upon the porch her senses reaching further out. Empathic she could feel and see the anger of Ginnie burning brilliant red tinged with blue as she spoke, the confused righteousness of Mia in tones of yellow and green, suddenly mixed with the purples and blues of sadness and regret from Preliat.

She folded her hands together and concentrated letting the breezes carry her voice what she would utter she did for the benefit of her own spirit and to those that would hear them. "I forgive you". It would not take away her pain but it would help the Clan to stay strong.

Night was coming the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. The brilliant light that bathed their world faded symbolic to Ordo's passing and now with night approaching they prepared for what must come.

Behind her she heard feet shuffling it was time, they were preparing to carry Ordo out his armor in place she reached out her finger tips brushing over his gloved hand one more time one last time. Rianna felt her heart stumble and break as the body of her beloved was moved past her she would never see his face except in her memories and holos. Never hear his voice except in old messages. Never feel the warmth of his embrace except in her imagination. Her feet wouldn't move, she looked over to Muad, "Thank you."

A lone bell began to ring to bring in the guests and the children. She looked for Dral the burden he carried with him today she did not envy.

[member="Ginnie Ordo"] [member="Preliat Mantis"] [member="Muad Dib"] @Ashin [member="Mia Monroe"] @D'ral Ar'klim [member="Gray Raxis"] [member="Stardust Raxis"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco watched it all quietly in the back, ready to provide the flames that would turn the man's mortal coil into ash and his mantle into molten flesh. Beyond that, his presence here was minuscule. In his clan, weeping was for the young, lost too soon. For the old, the riduur's often cried from being torn away for so long while others toasted and made merry in their comrade's name, telling stories of their deeds and antics. But he had never been close to Ordo, they had met in passing some, but never truly sat and talked. Never fought side by side. Draco had no tales or stories to tell of the man on they pyre to lift the spirits of those around. He could not blame the family for being distrought at the loss of their patriarch, even if he felt nothing.

Vengeance and power struggles tore the Mandalorians apart time and time again. He wanted to say all the things he felt about how the people had been shattered, scattered to the wind. How Mia had brought this upon herself and how the woman deserved to see everything she loved burn like she had burned so many others. Loss was so easy to shrug off when it wasn't your own, and she had finally lost something dear to her. A tiny piece of his heart wanted to rub her face in that feeling, to tell her she had devastated thousands that all felt this pain and that she deserved it and ten fold more. But, she was not the only one that had lost Jasper. So many innocents had lost him as well, and the big man in black robes could not place that stain upon the memory of the gone.

Preliat was right in the end. The culture Draco adopted was not known for giving.

It only destroyed. Others, families, legacies. Itself. Mandalorians were more apt at killing each other than they would ever be at tearing down the kingdoms of others.

"May the Manda claim his spirit, and may we see him waiting with a smile at the end of our days." He did not add the venomous words he so desired too, hatred burning in his chest, eager to get out. The warrior opened his robes, at his sides the tools of his forge hung along his belt, waiting to rent and tear the metal once more. Body and soul bound together in unbreakable metal. The last memory of a great man to be carried through the ages.

[member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] [member="Ginnie Ordo"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia found her feet, unable to look at any of them as their words washed over her. She couldn't muster up anger for Preliat's presence, she merely looked at him with sad eyes. No words would fix this, even the war wouldn't fix this. the only thing that would bring them any sort of peace would be in her death. Not before Ra.

She wiped her face dry, placed a kiss on Galeth's head and stepped towards Ginnie, gently handing him over. Her next words for Ginnie alone. Teach him to stand tall, teach him to fight and make sure he knows his mother loves him. But do not teach him who his mother is. He is an Ordo, not a Monroe from this day on wards. No child needs such shame hanging over him. And if his father comes for him...

Anger flashed across her face then. Rel should have been here, he should have been there throughout it all be he'd hidden himself away. That was her fault, but it still made her angry that he'd not tried. Do not let him take Galeth, for he is as broken as me and will bring nothing but misery.

She looked past Ginnie seeing Ordo's body being carried to the pyre and nodded towards it. "It's time."

[member="Ginnie Ordo"] [member="Muad Dib"]b [member="Draco Vereen"][member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"]

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

When word came, he hadn't given the travel time from Sulon a second thought. Jasper had been the greatest of his mentors, one whose teachings had doubtless saved the Felacatian's life on more than one occasion, and brought clarity to his path. Made him stronger for the family he now had, and by extension and through his cousin, never thought twice when his wife had been saddled with the proposal of adopting another's blood and shared it with him. Building his family in this way had given him several sons, some daughters, and a many more that he could call family - a full life.

He had hung back at the bleeding edge of the gathered, keen eyes watching, keen ears perceiving many words that were said, but arrived in armour he did not wear often anymore (save for in teaching others to move and fight in their own), cleaned, polished, and that ever present, prehensile tale swaying out the back. Now, with the body of a great man being carried to the pyre, the large, solid, acid-marked Felacatian moved along with the others, none of which he knew well at all. His fingers brushed along scars on one side of his face that stood in place of death itself, because of what he had learned; he remembered Jasper as the man he had been.

Orange eyes looked out across the fields, and the corners of his mouth uplifted a moment, the image of that beskar plow flashing up in his mind from some two decades before. That was when he'd met the Ordo patriarch... now it was time to say goodbye.

[member="Ginnie Ordo"] | [member="Mia Monroe"] | [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"]​

 

[Ginnie Dib]

Rianna's voice coated across the distance and summoned her daughter back. Ginnie looked between [member="Muad Dib"] and the others present, her caramel skin flushing pink as she realized the publicity of her conversation.





'Galeth Ordo. I'll do that for you, Ba'vodu Mia. I'll do this one last thing. Eh, sunspot? You're stuck with me ik'aad'ika. Our aay'han'ika.' Ginnie clipped the birikad to her beskar'gam and cuddled Galeth to her chest. His hand moved up to grab Ginnie's braids and she let him tug and hold on. As the flames were about to send Jasper Ar'klim on, so did her words for [member="Mia Monroe"].





'I said my piece, Buir. Mia darn well needed to hear it. I ain't letting another member of our family die for her unholy war. I ain't letting our family get caught up in harbouring someone who needs killing... am I holding the baby right? Did I embarrass you?' Ginnie's mental voice was for her mother alone, a telepathic chiding of the time to come. She stood beside her mother, one hand on Galeth, the other on the small of [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"]'s back. Her shaking hands anchored on mother and the infant, as she watched for @D'Ral Ar'klim, her beloved brother. Thick as verd in a tight spot.





Jasper [member="Ordo"]'s face and body passed by his daughter. She stuffed air in her ribcage until she thought it would burst. The baby on her chest squirmed, tiny hand pulling at her braid. Ginnie couldn't hear the gasp which parted her deaf lips, as she tried to compose herself.





Time. The heat of the flames preemptively struck Ginnie's old scars.





Jasper Ar'klim was Ginnie Verd's salvation. From the moment she sat beside him on Serenno and he showed her the straw on his buy'ce, he'd given her patience, protection, the promise to let her be a kid when she tried to stand too tall. Now those days were gone. The universe held none of the childlike innocence of a girl who fell hard for a home with Jasper and Rianna. She looked for [member="Maeve Ar'klim"], [member="Arla Balor"], her sisters.





The last journey of Jasper Ar'klim. Every inch cast another jolt into his daughter.

 

[Elam Vos]

He could feel it, that weight that his father had seemed to carry on his shoulders so easily, and he felt it would bear him to the ground. He took a breath as he appeared in the doorway of the ranch house. His father's beskad hilt stuck out over his shoulder and made him wonder how the the man had carried such a heavy thing so long.

He had his buy'ce clipped to his belt and his chin held high. His red rimmed eyes were dry finally but he didn't know for how long. He looked at the people gathering for the final part of the ceremony and began his slow walk behind the clansmen who bore Ordo's massive body to the pyre. D'ral thought of what to say, he had thought about nothing else for days, but he was fifteen and he had a hole where his heart should have been.

His boots stepped in rhythm with those who carried his hero for his last goodbye and fought donw the urge to find something, anything to fight. His dark brown eyes never left his father's cold face as he walked nor as they lay him on the pallet and drapped him in the Ordo clan colors.

D'ral wallked up onto the platform that held his father and turned to face the small crowd. He promised his mother he would speak for them but not looking at the people here he only wanted to ask where they had been when the galaxy took the greatest man D'ral had ever known. He cleared his throat, his mouth worked silently as he scanned the faces. He hooked a thumb in his belt and once again clear his throat be fore speakin.

"Jasper Ar'klim, better known as Ordo to most was born to J'rek and Mirax Ar'klim on Corellia. He has been preceded in death by his father and mother, his younger sister Cora, and his eldest son Aran. He is survived by his riduur Rianna, his daughters Ginnie and Maeve, his sister Mia, and his nieces, nephews, and grandson."

D'ral began to choke on his words as he spoke but pressed on as tears began sting his already dry eyes.

"My father was many things in his life, but the one thing he did better than anyrhing was love family. For those of you that knew him, you know that you were in danger of being family after the first ten minutes and he probably started thinking about you as family even sooner.

"He was a farmer, a husband, a builder, a father and a friend. He put everything into our people, everything he had and he never asked for anything in return. That's how I'll remember him. They say he was a warrior and they say he did terrible things, and he told me they were true many times, but he also told me, 'our mistakes can either break us or give us a place to build on'.

"He always had a saying like that, just waiting for the right moment." D'ral looked down, "Death is light as a feather, and Duty large as a mountain, that was another saying he told his troops before battles, and I guess now I know what that means. Ordo, my buir, may have marched on but the things he did will last forever in his people as long as we never forget what he stood for. Family, duty, honor, that was what he loved and that's what I'll remember."

D'ral stepped over to one of the torches and took it off a sconce before moving back to his father's body.

"Buir." He said with a wavering voice, "Your work here is done. Hold the line in the Manda until we can join you."

D'ral lit the pyre and slowly stepped back a few feet as the flames began to grow. He took his buy'ce off his belt and put it on to hide his tears and block out some of the heat. Maybe his Buir wouldn't burn. Ordo was beskar, fire didn't burn beskar.




[member="Mia Monroe"] [member="Ashin"] [member="Meeristali Peradun"] [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] [member="Ginnie Ordo"] [member="Gray Raxis"] [member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Briika Tor"] [member="Preliat Mantis"] [member="Muad Dib"] [member="Seydon Gunn"] [member="Rekali the Hutt"] [member="Mira Rekali"]

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

She gathered with everyone, ahe couldn't look to the body at all.....if she has been in contact with him with her old friend, could ahe of saved him? Could she of been able to help him so that he could be here instead of lying down oh so peaceful? Surrounded by those who knew him, loved him, and fought with him

She had to hold her head high as the speech started, she couldn't cry yet, she knew her friend wouldn't allow it. Yet as it went on the tears formed and fell as her head bowed even as the fire started throwing it's shadows behind them as ordo moved on

hold the line my friend...youve done it so many times before...its cake walk for ya

She said to herself as she looked to gray, could ahe handle his death if it ever happened? She shook her head as she didn't need to think of that....she placed a hand on [member="Gray Raxis"] 's shoulder and squeezed gently she she couldn't help but cry now her shoulders bouncing each time as she closed her eyes and raised her head again

Sometimes the worst nightmares weren't inside your head, instead it was the world outside that was often the worst you could find...and they lasted forever

-dont worry ordo....i won't make the same mistake, your family I'll speak with till the day I fall...i promise my old friend here I will....raxis will always be clan ordos friend...i swear on my honor and life-

She moved forward to @D'ral Ar'klim as she placed a hand on his shoulder, she hoped ahe could comfort him as she felt the heat lick at her face drying those tears on her face as she closed her eyes


[member="Ginnie Ordo"] [member="Meeristali Peradun"] [member="Meeristali Peradun"][member="Mia Monroe"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] [member="Preliat Mantis"] [member="Muad Dib"] [member="Ashin"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

Another face in the crowd. Ahani kept her silver hair under a scarf as she stood in a long burgundy wool coat @Aran Ordo thought looked fetching. Aran was gone. Since arriving at the Ordo Ranch, Ahani hung back to sit beside Aran's buy'ce, his memorial. The years with Aran were catharsis and bliss. Ahani realized what family meant, how odd it had been sitting at the worn kitchen table talking with [member="Ordo"], looking into those eyes both young and ancient.

Grief was a cancerous and inescapably terminal disease for the Echani Master now. At eight hundred and fifty seven, Aran Ordo was the third husband she'd buried. The sunrise of her force-begotten lifespan. If only...

"I should have fought beside you, you old b*stard." Ahani whispered, watching Jasper's journey to the fire.

Jasper's memory, his will toward honour and making right the wrongs one suffered onto others was the only reason [member="Mia Monroe"] still lived. Far from sane, the chaotic woman clung to her husband's memorial with an abject and horrific will. No killing at a funeral. Not for Jasper... Aran'd loved his old man... as much as they bickered as fathers and sons did.

As @D'ral Ar'klim spoke, Ahani could have sworn she saw her son Manu speak. A strong boy, grown too young. Too... too young.

"Goodbye, Jasper." Ahani whispered, as his body went up in flames. Hand on her brow, Ahani sobbed over her Aran's grave. She sobbed for Aran and Jasper, for the horrors she couldn't stop. Why had she been off-planet during the devastation? It was as if Aran knew, as if he'd given her the errand for some further purpose. All gone now.

"I'll see you soon, love... rest Aran. Rest..."

 

[Rianna Organa]

She felt the hand of her daughter [member="Ginnie Ordo"] resting against the small of her back she looked over at her and then down to the small face of Galeth Ordo. A sadness filled her as she realized Jasper would never see his own grandchildren.

It was the way of life she knew. She looked around and saw that Maeve and had finally come closer standing on the otherside of Rianna while Arla stood silently behind them. There were others missing from their family scattered across the stars as they were. And there were faces here she didn't know which only spoke to how many lives [member="Ordo"] had touched.

For a moment she smiled for it was his outgoing personality that had brought them together. She nodded not reconciled but she could find joy in what they had, and to know that in time they would be joined together again.

She heard the words of her son @D'ral Ar'klim and watched him knowing that his heart was broken and that what he had just completed would remain with him always. He was a dutiful son.

Now all her children were out into the world on their own taking up their own paths and forging ahead. Jasper would be proud.

She looked again upon the fire and watched for as long as she could before looking down, "Good bye my love until we meet again"

 

[Ginnie Dib]

Hold the line.





While she could blame her deafness on the need to watch D'ral's face, the truth laid bare between them. D'ral and Ginnie had been inseparable for years. While D'ral stayed homeschooled on the farm, Ginnie suffered wars and adventures, horrors and moments of grace. Jasper's son and his adopted daughter worked their chores, tended the farm and the forge together. When Ginnie returned with busted beskar'gam and wounds that needed healing, D'ral always found her. Made her laugh. When Ordo brought her home, broken from the alchemical forge, Ginnie kept the 'why' a secret. Staying focussed on healing was easiest when D'ral was around to motivate her. Recovery came with his joy and Rianna & Jasper's patience. Maeve's sweetness.





As D'ral put on his buy'ce, Ginnie stepped away from [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"]. The heat of the flames wafted harmless away from Galeth, Ginnie using her pyrokinesis to siphon heat. The heat of the pyre bathed her face. She let it.





Jasper Ar'klim taught Ginnie to be as indomitable as Beskar. As hearty as the black iron in his bones. The kiffar moved through the crowd until she came to [member="D'ral Ar'klim"]'s side. Ginnie slid her arm around his waist, dipping her head to his shoulder. Her forehead nuzzled his buy'ce for a brief second. Just one. While she held Galeth on her chest, she let salt water evaporate on her cheeks.





Ordo's death would not be the end of them. He died most of all to protect the life clinging to Ginnie's hair. For the moment, Ginnie held D'ral's side and watched the flames. They grew hotter and hotter, heat condensing back on the flickers as Ginnie wrapped her buir's body in flame. Her eyes flickered to [member="Mia Monroe"] through the flames. Guilty. Absolute. Galeth would have a family if it killed her.





Hold the line.